Current ratio (CA) or working capital ratio

CA = Current assets/Current liabilities (times)

Current ratio measures the short term solvency or liquidity; it signifies the extent to which the claims of short-term creditors are covered by assets. Current ratio is basically looking at the working capital of the company. Effective management of working capital ensures that organisation is running efficiently. This will ultimately result in increased profitability and positive cash flows. Effective management of working capital involves low investment in non-productive assets such as trade receivables, inventory and current account bank balances. Also maximum use of free credit facilities such as trade payables ensures efficient management of working capital.

Normal current ratio is around 2:1 however this varies within different industries. Low current ratio may indicate insolvency. High ratio may indicate not maximising return on working capital. Valuation of inventories would have an impact on the current ratio, as will year end balances and seasonal fluctuations.

The use of ratios

• To compare results over a period of time
• To measure performance against other organisations
• To compare results with a target
• To compare against industry averages

We will now look at some of the working ratios in detail and illustrate how they can be interpreted.